Dinner and Dates
by BethSHeartbeat
Summary: A rare day off for both Max and Zoe, and Rita and Connie leads to a double date. Birthday fic for my friend Katie.
1. Morning Baby

**A/N This was a birthday fic for my friend Katie (oblivionokay), it was originally posted on Wattpad but I thought I'd post here too! Also, this is my first time writing Freechamp, sorry it's rubbish but I don't ship it but I tried my hardest to write!**

 **Beth x**

"Remind me why you turned down a day in bed with me?" Max asked sleepily as Zoe finally managed to crawl out of bed, once she's finally managed to free herself from Max's arms.

"Because we occasionally have to socialise with friends, don't forget you're coming too and you're starting to smell so get in the shower." Zoe teased as she looked through her wardrobe for a suitable outfit.

"Charming." Max retorted but remained in bed, where he threw the duvet over his head. "You don't even like Connie." He offered as an excuse to get out of going out, his voice was muffled by the duvet but Zoe still was able to decipher what he was saying to her.

"That's not true!" Zoe tried but they both knew that she was lying, they were civil professionally but outside of work they steered well clear of each other. Max threw back the duvet in order to raise his eyebrows at her. "Fine, she's got better since she's been with Rita though." Zoe sighed as she pulled up her dress and smiled slightly to herself as Max pulled up her zip before he began to softly kiss her neck.

"Come back to bed Mrs Walker, we could have so much more fun here." Max tried as he whispered seductively in her ear. Zoe could feel her resolve weakening, she tried to think of reasons why they had to go out, but struggled to think of anything but Max as his lips brushed softly across her neck. As his teeth scrapped across her ear lobe, she was lost and fell back into Max's arms on the bed.

It wasn't long before they were disturbed by the ringing of Zoe's phone.

"Ignore it."

"We can't, it's Rita." Zoe sighed as Max pulled back away from her, allowing her the room to answer her phone. "Hi Rita." Zoe greeted, trying not to sound annoyed about the disruption to Max and her activities.

"Hi Zoe, could you and Max come for half 1 now instead of 11? I overslept and am behind on my cooking." Rita asked before apologising for the slight change in plan.

"Of course you just overslept." She teased knowingly. "But yeah we were running late ourselves." Zoe explained, not willing to go into any detail.

"Okay, see you later then."

* * *

"Are you going to tell me what we're doing today then?" Connie asked as she walked back into their bedroom with two mugs of coffee in her hands.

"I don't think I am." Rita teased in response, but still got up to take a mug from Connie.

"Aww come on, you know I hate surprises." Connie whined.

"No you don't, you hate not being in control. I promise you'll have a good day, now trust me darling."

"See that's where I'm having trouble." The clinical lead played.

"You weren't having trouble last night." The smaller blonde lent in for a kiss but pulled away just as Connie moved in to join their lips. Pulling on her dressing gown, Rita grabbed her coffee and then exited their bedroom and made her way down the stairs, leaving Connie wondering what her partner had planned.

"You're cooking?" Connie asked, he voice thick with surprise as she wrapped her arms around Rita's waist, as Rita stood over the hob.

"I can cook, you just insist usually." Was all the came in the way of a response.

"Why are you cooking?" Connie asked as she rested her head on Rita's shoulder, limiting the movement of her cooking girlfriend.

"Because like I told you, we have plans today." She explained and yet Connie just sighed again, so Rita placed a gentle kiss on Connie's cheek as the clinical lead pulled completely away.

"Why are there four plates out?" Connie asked suspiciously as she caught sight of the dining table that was laid ready for some sort of dinner party.

"We'll have company." Was all Rita was willing to tell Connie, for fear that she's walk out and go to work.

* * *

"Remind me what it is we're doing today again?" Max asked as he sat flicking through the music channels on the TV, occasionally settling on a channel and singing quietly along. This was Zoe's favourite start to her day, the start when they could stay close and then when she could hear Max doing something that he enjoyed.

"It's a dinner party at Connie and Rita's, like a double date I suppose."

"You have Rita and I'll have Connie." Max played as Zoe appeared back in the room with a plate of toast for him.

"You really do have a thing for women in positions of power don't you?"

"Yeah, Margaret Thatcher really did it for me." Max joked, causing both to burst out laughing. "My toast isn't burnt, are you feeling okay?" He asked, earning himself a gentle slap on the arm from his wife.

"I'll have you know that I have now mastered the art of cooking toast."

"Only 33 years later than a normal person."

"Whatever." She sulked as she sat down beside Max and immediately found her way into his arms, as he continued to flick through music, singing in between bites of his toast to songs that Zoe had never heard. She often wondered how Max had such a good knowledge of modern music when he spent all of his time with her and she'd never heard the tracks.

* * *

"They'll be here any moment, I need you to answer the door because I'm still cooking." Rita explained, she was starting to feel a little panicky as her starter was taking longer to cook than the recipe had specified.

"Are you going to tell me who I'm looking out for?" Connie asked, having been kept in the dark since they'd woken up. For a second Rita wondered whether she should just end the torture that she knew Connie was feeling but immediately thought better of it.

"No, it isn't hard just to open the door when it goes, you don't need to know who's on the other side of the door to open it."

Connie whined as she sat back down on the sofa, a pile of paperwork on her lap that she'd been trawling through for the past few hours. The radio had been turned off hours ago, after Connie had claimed it an unnecessary distraction. Silence echoed through the house and was becoming unbearable for the nurse manager, who then began humming songs to herself.

"Reets, come on, I'm nearly finished and now all I want to do is kiss you." She sighed.

Rita ignored her comments and settled on her own line of conversation now that Connie had started talking again. "I need you to promise that you'll be nice this afternoon, for me?"

"Why does this sound like something that I'm not going to enjoy?"

"You will, but you need to give it a chance and try and be sociable." The sound of the doorbell disturbed their conversation. "Go on." Rita urged an unhappy looking Connie.


	2. Stay

"Drink?" Rita asked, trying to raise the mood in the house as Connie sat on one sofa, trying to appear happy with their house guests, whilst Zoe and Max sat awkwardly on the other. Immediately went to reply, but then realised he'd said that he'd drive home, so sat back.

"Have one Max, I'll drive." Zoe urged, seeing the discomfort in his face when he realised that he was going to have an alcohol free afternoon with Connie Beauchamp.

"A beer please, if you have any."

"Yep, Zoe?"

"A white wine please." Zoe replied, but instantly she felt Max's gaze burning into her. "One won't hurt."

"Well actually..." Connie began but was silenced by a glare from her partner. "Never mind. So, we have a board meeting tomorrow Dr Hanna."

"Con." Rita interrupted, her tone acting as a warning. "Today is a work free zone, that means not even a conversation about work." She reminded her before sitting down beside Connie and taking her hand in hers. "It must be your anniversary soon." Rita started, causing a deliberate change of conversation.

"Yeah, it'll be two years next Saturday." Max smiled as he removed his hand from Zoe's and instead laid it on her knee.

"It's gone so quickly. How long is it that you two have been together now? It feels like ages." Zoe asked in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Just gone a year." Rita explained.

"It's gone so quickly but at the same time its hard to think of you not together now."

"I'm not sure I ever found out how you got together." Max thought aloud, causing the two women on the sofa opposition him to smile.

"Do you remember Mr Dlinton?" Connie asked and then searched their faces for any hint of recognition of the name. "The guy that went onto buses and stabbed everyone on there, mostly fatally, and then ran?" She asked, and instantly a look of recognition crossed their faces. Zoe had been tasked with telling families that their loved ones couldn't be saved, whilst Connie continued to treat those who were still coming in as the attacker remained on the loose. Max remembered a night without sleep as an emotional Zoe just cried whilst he held her.

"I think that's a yes darling." Rita interrupted as Zoe's eyes began to glaze over with tears at the memory.

"After you'd gone, another guy came in. He'd managed to get off one of the buses without injury with his little boy, who had been stabbed. They'd been hiding for a while, whilst the father tried to stem the bleeding. They came in once they were sure they were safe and it was Rita and I who were looking after him."

"He was okay though, right?" Max asked, as he noticed Zoe's hand shaking slightly, and immediately took it in his hand and rose it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss there. Connie ignored the interruption to her story, but from the corner Rita nodded and instantly made the married couple feel a little happier.

"Once we'd finished we sat in my office, both of us drained from the day."

"Connie had a bottle of vodka in the cupboard in her office, so we opened that." Rita began, smiling at her girlfriend at the memory, but the smile wasn't returned.

"You weren't supposed to mention that, we aren't supposed to consume alcohol on hospital premises." Connie scolded.

"It was only once and it's crucial to the story." Rita pointed out. "Anyway, they won't say anything. I'm sure that having sex on hospital premises is against the rules and yet it doesn't stop these two on a regular basis." Rita laughed, Max and Zoe joining in whilst a look of disgust rested upon the clinical lead's face.

"So you had vodka, what happened next?" Zoe asked, wanting to get back to the previous conversation as she felt her cheeks blush in embarrassment at her boss knowing about her sex life.

"We finished a bottle between us and needless to say, were both pretty drunk as a result." Rita continued but paused for a second, as Max tried to imagine Connie drunk. "In my drunken state, I kind of just blurted out that I had feelings for her. I then moved forwards and kissed her and the rest is history." Rita concluded before she leant forward and placed a soft kiss to Connie's lips.

"Reets, is that burning I smell?" Connie asked as she moved back a little, within seconds Rita had jumped up, uttering various swear words as she went.

"What is it that we're having?" Max asked, trying to sustain a conversation to prevent the rest of the afternoon being awkward.

"I'm not sure, she wouldn't tell me anything. I didn't even know she could cook until this morning, I'd expect anything if I was you. Who knows what could be invented in that crazy mind of hers?"

"I was a little surprised when she suggested a dinner party here, I thought she meant out for a meal when she first suggested it." Zoe added.

"I knew nothing until this morning, and even then I had no idea who was coming until you turned up at the door."

"That's why you were so surprised." Max worked out.

"Yeah, I knew this morning that we were having guests but madam wouldn't tell me who it was. I never expected you two, you're famous for doing nothing on your days off." Connie replied, but was met with a questioning gaze from Zoe. "Gossip does filter through my office door, and Rita fills me in on anything I miss. I tend to hear quite a lot when I venture into the pub though."

"Rita's been good for you." Zoe smiled, but was then left in a hole as Connie wondered what she meant, leaving Max to try and fix the slight mess.

"She's helped you to relax, you socialise now with your colleagues, you don't work every hour that god sends, you're kinder as well." Luckily at this point Rita announced that the starter was out, which ended the conversation that they were having before Connie had a chance to challenge Max.

* * *

By the end of the night they were all getting on like old friends, the mix of alcohol and varied conversations meant that the uncomfortable atmosphere had disappeared just as quickly as their starters had been eaten. Despite promising that she'd drive, Zoe was in no fit state to drive and neither was Max. Connie, who had that morning been opposed to company, had now significantly loosened up and was quite clearly under the influence of alcohol as she danced besides Zoe on the living room carpet. Max, who had just finished helping Rita clear away, was now stood back watching his wife and boss getting along and laughing as he realised that he didn't have to imagine Connie drunk anymore.

"I suppose I should ring a taxi." Max commented as Rita appeared beside him, smiling slightly at the image of Connie having some rare fun with other people.

"You don't have to, they look like they're having fun and that's rare for Connie. I don't want to ruin it just yet, we have a spare room that you're welcome to stay in." Rita offered. Max looked back at Zoe and Connie, who know both had TV remotes in their hands and were using them as microphones as they sang along to tracks from their youth.

"Thank you." Max accepted with a nod. "We can't let them have all of the fun." He decided.

"I don't know these songs and I doubt you do either."

"Doesn't mean we can't have fun too. Watch and learn." Max told her as he walked over to Zoe and wrapped his arms around her waist whilst she continued to sing. Every so often he'd kiss her neck, completely putting her off her song, which Zoe would protest slightly too. Rita watched on, half wondering whether to video a little of the antics going on in front of her, for she was sure that what was happening in front of her, would never happen again. It was almost just beyond what she expected from Connie, and definitely beyond believable.

"Baby, come and dance with me." Connie whined as she began to feel left out now that Zoe had given up singing and was instead in Max's arms dancing. Rita let out a small laugh before she joined Connie, Connie's arms went around Rita's waist at the same time as Rita's went around Connie's neck. It wasn't long before they'd forgotten that they had company and were stood kissing as if no one else was there. When they finally remembered Zoe and Max, they pulled apart but found an empty room, with just the sight of the married couple heading upstairs.

"I said they could stay tonight." Rita offered in explanation.

"Maybe we should head up stairs too." Connie suggested.

"Definitely."

 **THE END**

 **I hope you enjoyed Katie and again happy 17th birthday! xx**


End file.
